Magnifying Glass

Magnifying Glass

One lovely summer morning, I was having a breakfast outside, a couple of bees came to our table.  They landed on my waffle and started eating the syrup.  They are really clever!  That’s the fastest way to get syrup.  We may have maple-syrup-tasted honey some day.   I luckily could take some photos of them.  These are my photos.

I was wondering whether I could make a magnifying glass and look at this bee through it. 

And I made this cookie.  Wow! My magnifying glass cookie actually makes the bee BIG!  How could I make magnifying glass with Isomalt??

The trick is the three cookies I made.

Isomalt is used for maple syrup, magnifying glass and wings of bee.  While I explain how I made these cookies, I am also going to explain how I actually used Isomalt.

 A.  A bee on waffle

1. Bake a hand-cut cookie.  Since I used left-over cookie dough (for this challenge) which went back and forth freezer, there are butter-dots on the surface, please ignore it. 
2. Waffle part: I followed how Lisa of “The Bearfoot Baker” made her waffle.  It is here, https://thebearfootbaker.com/2017/03/waffle-cookies/   Thank you, Lisa! 

       3.Royal icing transfer bees, the size of the bee is about 1cm big (0.39 inch)  I  made some just in case they are broken.  (By the way, antennas were all broken so I did not use those antennas)

• Isomalt 1: I colored melted Isomalt with Wilton gel color and poured on my completely dried waffle cookie, while isomalt maple syrup is still sticky I set my small bee. 

 B.  A big bee on waffle cookie

1 Hand-cut cookie   

2 Outline with stiff consistency icing  

3 Then flood.   I dried it completely.

4 First body part with medium consistency icing         

5 face with yellow icing       

6 after it dried completely, I made the face with black icing that is a little stiff than the icing of the No.1 and 2

 7  I made some antennas, these are very fragile.  I am glad I made more than I thought I needed because  I broke 3 pairs of antennas.

7  I made wings with royal icing on silicon mat because I was going to pour melted isomalt after the icing dries completely.  Don’t try to remove icing wings before pouring isomalt, they get broken. 

• Isomalt 2:  I pour melted isomalt on the wings.  Since I want to use the flat face, I flipped over after I take out wings from the silicon mat and set on the body of the big bee.   

 How to make waffle part of this cookie is the same as the previous cookie. 

 9 I made legs with icing, dried them completely, I painted hair.  I also painted hair on the body.

10 I attached wings then antennas with stiff consistency icing  (Antennas are really fragile)

I poured colored Isomalt (maple syrup).  Since the bee is eating the syrup, syrup should go into the mouth. 

 C.  A magnifying glass

1  Hand-cut cookie

2 Outline then flood the frame of magnifying glass

3 Outline the handle part then flood

4  Smooth out the icing of which connecting parts, hand and handle in order to make the smooth surface of hand.

5  After flooded parts dried, I made the lines of magnifying glass and some designs on the frame.  I put 8 on the frame.  “8” is called “hatchi” in Japanese and “hatchi” is bee in Japanese. 

6   I made a hand with icing, after it dries, made nails.

7   I put some silver on the fame and painted the hand to make some shades.

• Isomalt 3:  I placed magnifying glass on silicon mat and pored melted Isomalt.  After it hardened, I flipped over and from the back side I warmed Isomalt glass with a heat gun to make convex lens.  If you warm it up too long, the glass part melts. 
• 

  Can you see the isomalt glass is like a convex lens?   However, this is not really a magnifying glass to make things bigger. 

 I set the waffle cookie with a big bee under the magnifying glass cookie and take a photo.  Don’t place on the magnifying glass cookie on the bee directly, if you do so, that breaks all details of the bee.   It is better to use plain colored dish, otherwise we need to magnify the design of the dish under the magnifying glass, too.   

Thank you for reading. 

What I can do with Isomalt is to color, to melt and to pour.  I cannot make complex and detailed things with candy.  I thought that this transparent glass like candy might be a fun thing, if I found out something interesting.  Isn’t it fun to magnify and see all the details that we do not see usually?   

This time, I did some experiments with Isomalt, icing transfer with Isomalt (wings of bee) and convex-like lens.   

Oh WOW!!! What an amazing work! The teeny-weeny details in the fly are mouth dropping. Congratulations!👏👏💕

Heather Bruce Sosa posted:

Oh WOW!!! What an amazing work! The teeny-weeny details in the fly are mouth dropping. Congratulations!👏👏💕

Thank you!  

So brilliant Ryoko!!! Love this so much ❤️🐝❤️

Evelindecora posted:

So brilliant Ryoko!!! Love this so much ❤️🐝❤️

Thank you, Evelin🥞🍯

Wonderful! I just love how your cookies always have an interesting/fun story or angle about them. And your in-depth tutorials in the comments are so rich with information - just priceless! Thank you!

Awesome Ryoko!!! Love your isomalt work

Julia M. Usher posted:

Wonderful! I just love how your cookies always have an interesting/fun story or angle about them. And your in-depth tutorials in the comments are so rich with information - just priceless! Thank you!

Thank you, Julia.  Now I really think people who make tutorials for us do a lot of work.  If I try to avoid writing in English, I needed to take photos and I easily forgot to do so when I concentrated on making cookies.  I would like to thank them for making tutorials for us.  

Cookies Fantastique by Carol posted:

Awesome Ryoko!!! Love your isomalt work

Thank you, Carol.  You are always sweet to me.  

What a great idea, Ryoko! Everything around us could be the sparkle to make cookies and this entry proves it.

The hand is so detailed that at first glance I thought it was real! Very interesting how you made the convex lens and thank you for the mini tutorial!

Manu posted:

What a great idea, Ryoko! Everything around us could be the sparkle to make cookies and this entry proves it.

The hand is so detailed that at first glance I thought it was real! Very interesting how you made the convex lens and thank you for the mini tutorial!

Thank you, @Manu biscotti decorati  

I thought that hand really looks mine!   I made this cookie  looking at my left hand which holds a magnifying glass, so the cookie should be like my left hand.   It looks really weird to look at this cookie held by my left hand, 2 left hands!!  

A W E S O M E!!!

Vico Viram posted:

A W E S O M E!!!

Thank you🐝

Ryoko ~Cookie Ave. posted:

Julia M. Usher posted:

Wonderful! I just love how your cookies always have an interesting/fun story or angle about them. And your in-depth tutorials in the comments are so rich with information - just priceless! Thank you!

Thank you, Julia.  Now I really think people who make tutorials for us do a lot of work.  If I try to avoid writing in English, I needed to take photos and I easily forgot to do so when I concentrated on making cookies.  I would like to thank them for making tutorials for us.  

Yes, tutorial writing is a TON of hard work. I thank them too!

What  original idea!  

Dolce Flo posted:

What  original idea!  

Hi Filomena 🐝.  Thank you for your comment 😊

Ryoko ~Cookie Ave. posted:

Magnifying Glass

One lovely summer morning, I was having a breakfast outside, a couple of bees came to our table.  They landed on my waffle and started eating the syrup.  They are really clever!  That’s the fastest way to get syrup.  We may have maple-syrup-tasted honey some day.   I luckily could take some photos of them.  These are my photos.

I was wondering whether I could make a magnifying glass and look at this bee through it. 

And I made this cookie.  Wow! My magnifying glass cookie actually makes the bee BIG!  How could I make magnifying glass with Isomalt??

The trick is the three cookies I made.

Isomalt is used for maple syrup, magnifying glass and wings of bee.  While I explain how I made these cookies, I am also going to explain how I actually used Isomalt.

 A.  A bee on waffle

   

1. Bake a hand-cut cookie.  Since I used left-over cookie dough (for this challenge) which went back and forth freezer, there are butter-dots on the surface, please ignore it. 
2. Waffle part: I followed how Lisa of “The Bearfoot Baker” made her waffle.  It is here, https://thebearfootbaker.com/2017/03/waffle-cookies/   Thank you, Lisa! 

 

1. Royal icing transfer bees, the size of the bee is about 1cm big (0.39 inch)

I made some just in case they are broken.  (By the way, antennas were all broken so I did not use those antennas)

 

• Isomalt 1: I colored melted Isomalt with Wilton gel color and poured on my completely dried waffle cookie, while isomalt maple syrup is still sticky I set my small bee. 

 

 B.  A big bee on waffle cookie

1 Hand-cut cookie   

         

2 Outline with stiff consistency icing  

3 Then flood.   I dried it completely.

4 First body part with medium consistency icing         

5 face with yellow icing       

  

6 after it dried completely, I made the face with black icing that is a little stiff than the icing of the No.1 and 2

 7  I made some antennas, these are very fragile.  I am glad I made more than I thought I needed because  I broke 3 pairs of antennas.

7  I made wings with royal icing on silicon mat because I was going to pour melted isomalt after the icing dries completely.  Don’t try to remove icing wings before pouring isomalt, they get broken. 

 

• Isomalt 2:  I pour melted isomalt on the wings.  Since I want to use the flat face, I flipped over after I take out wings from the silicon mat and set on the body of the big bee.   

 How to make waffle part of this cookie is the same as the previous cookie. 

 

 9 I made legs with icing, dried them completely, I painted hair.  I also painted hair on the body.

10 I attached wings then antennas with stiff consistency icing  (Antennas are really fragile)

I poured colored Isomalt (maple syrup).  Since the bee is eating the syrup, syrup should go into the mouth. 

 C.  A magnifying glass

1  Hand-cut cookie

2 Outline then flood the frame of magnifying glass

3 Outline the handle part then flood

4  Smooth out the icing of which connecting parts, hand and handle in order to make the smooth surface of hand.

5  After flooded parts dried, I made the lines of magnifying glass and some designs on the frame.  I put 8 on the frame.  “8” is called “hatchi” in Japanese and “hatchi” is bee in Japanese. 

6   I made a hand with icing, after it dries, made nails.

7   I put some silver on the fame and painted the hand to make some shades.

• Isomalt 3:  I placed magnifying glass on silicon mat and pored melted Isomalt.  After it hardened, I flipped over and from the back side I warmed Isomalt glass with a heat gun to make convex lens.  If you warm it up too long, the glass part melts. 
• 

  Can you see the isomalt glass is like a convex lens?   However, this is not really a magnifying glass to make things bigger. 

 I set the waffle cookie with a big bee under the magnifying glass cookie and take a photo.  Don’t place on the magnifying glass cookie on the bee directly, if you do so, that breaks all details of the bee.   It is better to use plain colored dish, otherwise we need to magnify the design of the dish under the magnifying glass, too.   

 

Thank you for reading. 

What I can do with Isomalt is to color, to melt and to pour.  I cannot make complex and detailed things with candy.  I thought that this transparent glass like candy might be a fun thing, if I found out something interesting.  Isn’t it fun to magnify and see all the details that we do not see usually?   

This time, I did some experiments with Isomalt, icing transfer with Isomalt (wings of bee) and convex-like lens.   

This is genius!!! simply brilliant. Amazing execution and technique! I am so in  luv with this set!

Thank you, Arlene @Chua Cookie   Thank you for reading how I made my cookies.   You make me happier today!   

GinkgoWerkstatt posted:

What an extremely great entry! It looks so real and just after reading your "step by step" instructions I realized that it's "just" a fake magnifying glass.

When first looking at it I really thought you have been able to get such an effect!  Great way to present the cookies. ♥ 

It might be weird, but I love that syrup. So realistic!

Oh, I am so honored, thank you.  The syrup is good but just very hard

Very clever!!! 👏👏👏 Thank you also for all those tips. Very nicely executed! 

Sweet Prodigy posted:

Very clever!!! 👏👏👏 Thank you also for all those tips. Very nicely executed! 

Hi Christine.  Thank you   I thank to the bees that joined our breakfast.  

WOW, Ryoko! This is sooooo brilliant and clever!!! You are ready for a magician, my dear! Everything looks so real. I agree with Manu about the hand and love your comment about the both left hands

carouselselsel posted:

WOW, Ryoko! This is sooooo brilliant and clever!!! You are ready for a magician, my dear! Everything looks so real. I agree with Manu about the hand and love your comment about the both left hands

　2 left hands, I really should have taken the picture.  It was very interesting to have a closer look of a bee, that is very hairy!   I am interested in looking at things closer but I do not want to find some insects that live in my house without telling me. 

Marvelous!

Tina at Sugar Wishes posted:

Marvelous!

Thank you, Tina

Ryoko! This is a brilliant, clever entry! I am so impressed with how you made the coordinating bee and magnifying glass cookies, making the bee larger to "fool" us into thinking your isomalt looking glass actually works! I think it was genius to heat the isomalt in the magnifying glass to make the surface convex.  I had no idea how you had accomplished that until I read your very excellent instructions. On top of all of that, the subject of this entry, and the intricate details of the bees are just incredible. Brava! 

Bakerloo Station posted:

Ryoko! This is a brilliant, clever entry! I am so impressed with how you made the coordinating bee and magnifying glass cookies, making the bee larger to "fool" us into thinking your isomalt looking glass actually works! I think it was genius to heat the isomalt in the magnifying glass to make the surface convex.  I had no idea how you had accomplished that until I read your very excellent instructions. On top of all of that, the subject of this entry, and the intricate details of the bees are just incredible. Brava! 

Thank you so much.  You made me feel that I made really something     Your comment made me  happy and go forward as always